It All Started With Missing A Curfew
by Billy-Eden
Summary: Takes place shortly after Mainstream . . . While walking home alone from the movies one day, Kurt gets jumped by a few members of a local gang and everything changes. Possibly Kurtty. Short chapters, sorry. Chapter two is up.
1. Chapter 1

A pale skinned boy pushed the double doors open, leaving the heated comfort of the movie theater behind as he stepped into the freezing, deserted street of Bayville. The cold didn't seem to bother this teen as much as it would any other. His lower body was clothed in baggy green pants and red sneakers, while his upper body was covered by a t-shirt and an unzipped black hoodie. But these articles of clothing were not the only things keeping him warm. Unseen to any others, thanks to his wrist watch, his entire body was covered in blue fur.

Kurt stuffed his hands into his pockets. Despite his jacket and fur, it was still uncomfortably chilly out there. To make matters worse, the Sun disappeared beyong the horizon, making it even colder. Had he seen that movie a month earlier, he would have simply teleported back to the institute without a second thought. Unfortunately, Professor Xavier had advised all of the students to avoid using their powers out in the open at all costs. He told them that if word ever made its way to the school board that one of them had used their power in public, they would be expelled from school, being considered "threats".

_The mansion is about three miles away_, Kurt reminded himself, wondering how long it would take him to get there. It was about ten, considering the length of the movie he had seen and the time it started. If he kept up this pace, he would probably get home at about ten forty-five. This would be past his curfew, but he didn't care. It was already past the nine o' clock curfew that Xavier assigned, so it didn't make much difference when he made it home now. But for the sake of his punishment, he turned down an alley that would let him get to the mansion about ten minutes earlier.

Even Kurt knew that going down an alley in the dead of night was asking for trouble. At least it was in the movies he had seen. In his case, however, he was willing to take the chance. Bad move, Wagner. The alley was about fifty feet long and ten feet wide. When he was nearing the other end, a strong arm wrapped itself around his neck and then flung him onto the concrete ground. He cried out in pain. For a normal person, this would not have hurt too much, but Kurt had landed on his tail, one of the most sensitive parts on his body.

"Man, if that hurt, you must be one weak mutie." So the guy must have recognized him from school. He was obviously much older than Kurt though, perhaps being held back for a year or three. Evidently he was only aware that Kurt was a mutant in general, unknowing of his fur or tail. It was too dark to make out any of the attacker's features, other than that he was a bit taller than Kurt and much stockier. Before he knew what had happened, two other thugs launched themselves at the helpless victim, both holding an arm flat against the ground.

The first attacker sat on Kurt's chest, causing him to yell and gasp for breath. _Snik_. A long object gleamed in the dull moonlight. Kurt recognized it immediately. A switchblade knife. "Why don't you use your powers, mutie?" one of the gangsters mocked. He longed to teleport away, but he knew that one of these men would run straight to Principal Kelly, making up a story that told of Kurt attacking the three, using his powers to mug them, or something of the sort. Kurt could do nothing but watch as the gleaming blade was lowered toward his face . . .

Back at the mansion, several of the young mutants were seated in armchairs in the living room, waiting impatiently for Kurt to arrive. This group included Jean, Scott, Evan, Rogue, and Kitty.

"I can't believe this!" Scott yelled, causing the rest of them to jump in surprise. "He's missed his curfew every day since the beginning of Christmas Break! When I get my hands on that elf, I'm gonna . . . ARGH!" He ended his rant with a grunt of frustration and slumped down into his chair, crossing his arms.

"This just isn't like Kurt," Jean said, much more calmly than Scott. "It's like you said, he's missed his curfew every day for the past week. Something must be going on with him."

"He's probably just, like, still getting used to the fact that everyone knows he's a mutant now," Kitty pointed out, trying to stick up for him a bit. "Look, I'll take the X Van and do a quick lap around the street. If I don't see him by then, I'll come back and get you guys. Then we can all go looking for him." Everyone seemed to agree with this and she headed toward the foyer. It was the fastest way to get to the garage, and she wanted to spend as little time as possible in the bitter cold.

Putting on a jacket, she phased through the door and ascended the steps two at a time, wanting the warmth of the heater more and more every second. When she was halfway down the driveway, her foot hit something soft, causing her to trip and fall onto the pavement. Thankfully she had been able to catch herself and not do any damage. Kitty huffed annoyedly. "Who leaves the garbage out in the middle of the driveway? When I find out who did this, they're-". She froze as the "trash bag" moaned, then expanded a bit.

"Kurt?" Kitty began to laugh, having been quite worried about the blue boy for a while. "Kurt, the yard is no place for a nap at a time like this." She reached over and rolled him over to face her. "You . . ." She once again stopped abruptly as a horrible site met her eyes. Without a second thought, she somehow managed the strength and will to heave Kurt's limp body into her arms, dragging his feet on the ground as she carried him toward the front door.

The teenagers in the living room jumped as they heard the foyer door slam shut with a bang. Scott rose and headed toward the source of the sound. A familiar person ran straight past him. "Hey, Kitty, what are you doing back already?" He then noticed the limp form in her arms. "Oh my god . . ." Kitty ran straight into the living room without a word. After Evan had quickly moved from his seat on the couch to make room, she gingerly set Kurt's body there and backed away, her lips trembling as if she were about to cry. Their mouths were all hanging open as they saw what had been done to him.

Kurt's clothes were torn in several different places, obviously by a blade. There were cuts all over his face, leaving his blue fur to be tinted purple from blood. On his white t-shirt, the word _FREAK_ was written cruedly in blood.

"LOGAN!" Scott screamed at the top of his lungs.


	2. Taking time to heal

Two days had passed since Kitty had found Kurt outside the mansion, bloody and cut all over. Thankfully, his wounds had not been too serious. Hank had been able to stitch him up in a flash. However, after he was released from the mansion's infirmary, everyone noticed that Kurt had been acting drastically different. He had already been acting a bit strange lately, but it was much worse now. His usual calm and humorous personality had been replaced by a silent, paranoid exterior.

At first it wasn't too bad, but as the second day rolled around, Kurt's paranoia became increasingly severe. Any time that he heard a loud noise (Such as a door shutting or a car being cranked up) he would jump, sometimes even teleporting into another room. He always had a rather wild look in his eye. It wasn't like the kind of daring, fearless type of wild look he had before, but one full of fear. Whenever he was eating a meal in the dining room his hands would shake, causing him to spill his drink several times. Each time a person would raise their knife to cut their food, Kurt would keep a weary eye on them, as if afraid they would suddenly turn and cut him.

Kitty walked down the staircase and into the foyer. It was Saturday, which meant everyone would be out of the mansion and spending a night in Bayville. That also meant she had the mansion to herself. As she turned a corner and stepped into the kitchen, a familiar sight met her eyes. Kurt was standing in front of the refrigerator with his back to her, his tail flicking back and forth. At first she was surprised to see him, since Kurt had been spending every night in town lately. After a few seconds of thinking, she could have smacked herself for her ignorance.

_Of course he's not out! He hardly even comes out of his room anymore!_

As her feet were bare, Kitty hardly made a sound as she walked up behind Kurt.

"Kurt?" Kitty said softly, reaching out and touching his shoulder. The blue boy suddenly vanished in a cloud of purple smoke with a low _bamf_. After living in the same house as Kurt for as long as she had, she knew exactly what Kurt's teleporting sounded like. But this time, it sounded different. Like _bam-amf_. She glanced around the room for anything that might hint where he had gone. She noticed a bit of smoke fading above her head. In the shadows above the refrigerator, she could see two wide, yellow eyes peering down at her. "Kurt, get down here. I'm not gonna hurt you, crazy."

Gradually, Kurt slipped one foot off the edge of the refrigerator, followed by the other. He pushed himself off the edge, landed gracefully on the polished floor below. "Vhy do you have to come around and scare me like zhat?" Kurt asked annoyedly.

"Me! Scare you!" Kitty yelled. "You've got no room to talk about scaring people, you side-show circus freak!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Kurt's eyes were wider than Kitty had ever seen them. He began stepping away from her, a pained expression on his face. "K-Kurt," she stuttered, reaching out toward him. "Kurt, I didn't mean to . . ."

Too late. Once again, Kurt was gone. But this time, he didn't reappear only three feet from where he had stood before. He was gone. Kitty knew that he was only back in his room, but that didn't make it any better. Whether he was in his room or in China didn't change what she had said to him.

A knock came at Kurt's door. "Go avay!" Kurt yelled, throwing a pillow at it. Kitty jumped at the noise, accidentally phasing halfway through the wall behind her. She approached Kurt's room again, gripping the doorknob and turning. It was locked, of course.

"Kurt, whether you unlock this door or not, I can still get in! You know that!" Kitty could hear Kurt sigh loudly. She pressed her ear hard against the door, listening for any sign of Kurt unlocking it. Suddenly the door was jerked open, causing her to fall onto the floor. As she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into two pairs of furry, blue toes. Raising her head, she saw Kurt himself, gazing down at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Vhat are you doing on zhe floor, Kitty?" Kurt asked, a slight hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yeah right, Kurt. Like you didn't just see me fall," Kitty said sarcastically. She pulled herself to her feet, so that she was almost eye level with the blue elf. Kurt looked thoroughly amused by now.

"YOU FELL!" Kurt clasped both of his hands on his cheeks in mock horror. "Oh my goodness, Katzchen! Are you alright?" He got very close to Kitty's face and stared into each of her eyes. "No bruises, no cuts, ja?" Kurt put the back of his hand to her forehead. "Gracious, you're feverish! You must be in such pain! You need bed rest!" Kitty screamed in shock as Kurt suddenly scooped her up and ran into the hallway, carrying her into her room. Dropping Kitty onto the bed, Kurt grabbed the blankets and pulled them over the thin mutant's form.

"Kurt!" Kitty was barely able to get the words out, since she was laughing too hard. "What do you think you're-"

"Hush, darling!" Kurt said, using the tone of a caring mother. "You'll be better in no time. Now, I'm going to stick my warm, furry finger in your mouth to check for strep throat. Say 'ah'!" His hand slowly advanced toward her mouth, only to have Kitty smack it away. Before Kut knew what was happening, Kitty had thrown the blankets aside and tackled him off the bed, full force. He hit the floor hard, and it didn't make it any better to have Kitty land on top of him. She laughed as she rose from the floor, putting her foot onto Kurt's chest to keep him down.

"Who's in pain now, Kurt?" Kitty asked, a wicked grin on her face. Kurt had a more painful look on his face than she had expected. His response made her realize why.

"Vell, I guess me, Kitty . . . since you're standing on my tail."


End file.
